- Recruitment is the process of identifying, screening and hiring the most suitable candidate for a job vacancy. - The candidate might be hired internally or from external sources - The process must be performed in timely and cost effective manner - It can also be termed as a process linking the employers and the employees

The recruitment process tries to get the best manpower for the organization. It can be considered as the first strategic step towards the success of an organization. The process consists of following major steps: - Identifying the vacancy - Preparing the job specifications and description of the potential candidate - Advertising the requirement - Receiving and managing the applications - Short listing the candidates - Arranging the interviews - Conducting the interviews and deciding on the candidate

There can be various internal and external factors which affect the recruitment process. Internal factors - The factors which are under the control of organization are called internal factors. These could be - i.) Recruitment policy of the organization ii.) Human Resource Planning iii.) Expansion plans iv.) Cost of recruitment External factors - These are the factors which are not under the control of the organization. These could be - i.) Availability of talent ii.) Brand image of the organization iii.) Politico-social environment iv.) Legal conditions v.) Economic condition of the market vi.) Recruitment policy of the competitors

Equal employment opportunity means an equal and fair treatment for all people. There is no discrimination among the employees or candidates on the basis of: race, age, sex, marital status, disability, sexuality, pregnancy etc. Equal employment Opportunities help in overall development of both the society as well as the organization. They help the organizations in creating a good image for themselves and discharging their social responsibilities.

Recruitment aims at searching for the talent and promoting the candidates to apply for the position while selection is the process of screening the candidates to fill a position with the most suitable candidate. Recruitment process get a pool of candidates for the selection process to work and choose the best one. Recruitment encourages more and more people to apply while selection eliminates unsuitable candidates to zero down on the best one. There is no contractual agreement between the employee and the employer in the recruitment process while after the selection a contract is agreed upon by the employee and the employer.

If a company decides to outsource its recruitment activities, it looks for a consultant to do this job. Following are the important qualities, a company should look for in the consultant before hiring them - - Experience and expertise in the sector - Resources they possess - Achievements in the last projects - Flexibility and adaptability - Result orientation